Several state chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected the Rainbow Coalition pioneered by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
According to a report by Punch, some state chairmen have promised to accept Wike if he joins the APC, while others have outrightly opposed the coalition.
NEWSNGR reports that the development comes amid a renewed confrontation between Wike and APC governors over the political structure the FCT minister is assembling ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In Imo State, the APC Publicity Secretary, Jones Onwuasoanya, said Wike was attempting to maintain an ambiguous political position and urged him to formally identify with the ruling party.
“Decency demands that an individual who claims so much allegiance to the philosophies and programmes of a political party should fully align with that political party, rather than playing hide and seek with his loyalty to the party,” Onwuasoanya said.
He added, “If Wike is sincere about his support for President Tinubu, then he should join the APC and begin to campaign for our party across all positions rather than being selective.”
The Imo APC spokesman dismissed the Rainbow Coalition as a political structure with little relevance in the state.
“As long as the All Progressives Congress in Imo State is concerned, there is nothing like a Rainbow Coalition or whatever it might be called. The APC is the only viable political platform in Imo State and Imolites are fully aligned with us,” he said.
He maintained that the party was confident of victory in 2027, saying, “There is no political arrangement or structure outside the APC that poses any threat to our Party’s electoral chances.”
In Gombe, the APC Publicity Secretary, Murtala Usman, similarly urged Wike to complete his political transition to the ruling party.
“My opinion is the same as the people who are advising him to join APC because APC doesn’t need any rainbow coalition for now,” Usman said.
He warned that such an arrangement could create confusion within the ruling party.
“That rainbow coalition will cause some confusion in the APC because those who are stakeholders in the APC, particularly in some states, will find it very difficult to handle,” he stated.
Usman argued that recent defections of PDP governors to the APC had already created difficulties for some long-standing party members.
“So Wike should switch to APC completely. Since he is doing the work of APC, let him be a full member, not a partial member,” he said.
The Ondo State APC also rejected the idea of a coalition that would support Tinubu for president while backing candidates from other parties in other elections.
The state party secretary, Alex Kalejaiye, said the arrangement was unacceptable to the chapter.
“We are disturbed that the coalition would only support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the general elections, but field candidates for other positions,” he said.
According to him, APC’s objective was to deliver all its candidates and not just the presidential candidate.
“To us in Ondo State, support for the candidates of the ruling party must be total; our party is committed to mobilising votes for the President, three senatorial, nine representatives, and 26 House of Assembly candidates. That is not negotiable,” Kalejaiye stressed.
He warned that supporting different parties on the same ballot could create confusion for voters and potentially complicate the electoral process.
The chapter therefore appealed to Wike to collapse the coalition into the APC.
“The APC could therefore appeal to Barr. Nyesom Wike, the leader of the coalition, to collapse his structures into the ruling party, so we could present a common front during the elections,” he said.
In Jigawa State, the party said it welcomed Wike’s support for Tinubu and would gladly receive him if he decided to join the APC.
The state APC Publicity Secretary, Bashir Kundu, said, “We in the Jigawa APC welcome the contribution Wike is making in promoting the President and APC candidate for the 2027 election, Bola Tinubu. We will certainly welcome Nyesom Wike if he decides to join our party, the APC.”
He dismissed concerns that Wike could harm the APC’s electoral interests, saying the party had its own structures and programme.
“I am not aware of such plans, but I know for sure that Wike will not cause that kind of harm to the APC because the party has its own programme,” he said.
In Rivers State, where Wike served as governor and remains a major political actor, the controversy has an additional dimension.
The factional APC led by Emeka Beke backed the Progressive Governors Forum’s opposition to the coalition.
The faction’s publicity secretary, Darlington Nwauju, said Wike could not simultaneously maintain loyalty to the PDP and work with the APC.
“The truth remains that if you look at the background or the context of Nigerian elections and if you cast your mind to the fact that the level of political education in Nigeria is still way behind,” Nwauju said.
He argued that asking voters to support candidates from different political parties at different levels could create confusion.
“You cannot confuse the electorate by thinking that you can order them into voting for candidate A in party A and candidate B in party B on the same election day,” he stated.
